Mai's Pride and Prejudice
by lil whit
Summary: What happens when Mai is caught off guard while reading her favorite novel? Will she get her happy ending, or will she end up more hurt than before? Oneshot


Mai sighed as she sat on her favorite bench on campus. It was the only one that was ever left alone and she appreciated the solitude after a particularly trying class. She was in college now studying basic courses until she could go overseas and get into some kind of parapsychology program. Even if she did learn everything she knew from SPR- something she didn't like to remember- she was very passionate about ghost hunting and wanted a career in that field.

She stretched and looked up into the branches of the tree overhead. It wouldn't be too long before fall overtook them all. Mai smiled to herself. She loved the fall more than any other season right now. She looked at her watch. She still had an hour to kill before class. "Why does today have to be so long?" she muttered to herself.

It had been a bad day for the time to drag; her thoughts had been haunted all the night before and the morning by _**his**_ face. No- she couldn't think about it. She dug around in her bookbag until she found what she was looking for. Mai stroked the well-worn cover of her book. It was an English novel called The Pride and the Prejudice by a woman named Jane Austen. It had become her favorite after Naru left. She sighed. It was so ironic, her love for this particular piece of literature. If she thought about it, Naru was a lot like Mr. Darcy. He was proud; too proud at times. Because of that pride, he was often misunderstood. Of course, there was a basis for his pride as with Mr. Darcy. Both were educated gentlemen, handsome, and wealthy.

Mai, as she had found, resembled Elizabeth Bennett. She was a good judge of character (mostly because of her latent psychic ability) and wasn't afraid to say what was on her mind when Naru overstepped his bounds. Even so, she had been prejudiced against Naru before she had gotten to know him. She had slowly realized that Naru was a better person than she'd thought, despite the poor way he'd shown it.

The main difference between Mai and Naru's relationship and Darcy and Elizabeth's was that they hadn't had a happy ending. It was the opposite. Mai had confessed only to have Naru leave her with no resolution. Mai was awoken from her thoughts by her cell phone going off. She flipped it open to see that Yasu had texted her. She opened it and instantly regretted doing so. It read:

_Guess whose favorite narcissist is back in town?_

Mai froze then relaxed as she remembered that Oliver wouldn't know where to look for her. She smiled as she responded:

_**That's cool, I think. Good thing I'm busy today, then, right?**_

_ Does this mean I get to tell Chief the great news?_

_**What great news?**_

Mai frowned as she waited for Yasu's reply. She had the feeling he was up to something but it went away as she read:

_The news that we'll be all alone together, of course! ;D_

Mai found herself giggling before she returned to her book. Soon enough, she had lost herself in the pages. She was so lost, that she didn't notice that someone was reading over her shoulder.

Mai was startled when a voice so familiar to her read aloud, "I have been a selfish being all my life in practice, though not in principle. As a child I was taught what was _right_, but I was not taught to correct my temper. I was given good principles, but left to follow them in pride and conceit."

Mai turned, the book almost falling from her hands. "N-Naru? W-what are you doing here?" she squeaked.

Naru moved to sit next to her. "Yasuhara told me where I could find you. I never would have guessed you to be a fan of Austen's work," he answered, a calm, stoic expression on his face.

Mai blushed. "I've only ever read Pride and Prejudice," she admitted. Her mind and heart were on overload. Just who the hell did he think he was, sitting there so nonchalantly when he had been the one to break her heart?

Naru smirked. "Oh? And what is so special about that one novel that leaves you ignoring the rest?"

Mai felt her cheeks redden. She scrambled to come up with an excuse. She couldn't just tell him it was because of Mr. Darcy and how alike he was to Oliver! He would laugh or worse. "Um, why shouldn't I find this particular work special?" she countered. Ha! She had him there!

She was proven wrong as he said, "The plot is unoriginal and the characters are so self- absorbed that it's disgusting."

Mai glared. "One could say the same of you, Oliver. Sometimes I believe that you'd marry yourself if society allowed it."

Naru hid his amusement at his former assistant. She had hardly changed it seemed, despite how much she had physically grown. Her hair was now halfway down her back and she was no longer the gangly teen he had once known. No, she had blossomed into a beautiful woman since he'd been gone. He raised an eyebrow. "If you could explain its merit then I might be inclined to change my mind."

Mai's expression softened as she contemplated how to do so without giving away her lingering feelings for the man beside her. "It's well-written and the characters are relatable. Not only that but it correctly presents how marriage really was back in those days. Elizabeth is a solid character that goes against the norm of the time."

Naru smirked. "It's a formula romance novel and is nothing more. I wouldn't even dream of holding it in the same category as say, Charles Dickens."

It was Mai's turn to smirk. "But, Naru, even YOU can relate to at least one character."

Naru raised a brow.

Mai knew that was his way of telling her to continue.

She sighed. "Have you overlooked the fact that you resemble one of the characters?"

Naru did nothing more than smirk.

Mai decided that she had had enough and stood, brushing the dirt from her clothes. "Unlike some people, I have class to attend. Guess I'll see you later then," she said as she made for a random building. She was stopped by Naru grabbing her wrist.

She turned back to face the infuriating man behind her. "What?" she snarled.

Naru frowned before saying, "I'm sorry."

Mai did a double take then scoffed. "For what? Obviously the great Oliver Davis can do no wrong! Not even when he leaves for England and doesn't even try to keep in touch with anyone; even those who care about him most. For years! Not only that, he comes back to visit only to criticize his ex-assistant's reading interests!"

Naru pulled Mai closer to him, serious look on his face. "I'm not just visiting," he stated. He knew this would diffuse Mai's anger for a moment.

Mai stared for a beat before asking, "Why?"

Naru kept his eyes on Mai's hand as he answered, "There are more interesting cases in Japan than in England. I also enjoy the freedom it allows me here. No one knows me as the great Oliver Davis with the exception of SPR."

Mai couldn't help the soft and understanding look that crossed her features. "I can imagine." She watched a bird pass over them as she struggled not to allow herself to feel too disappointed. Was it too much to ask for Naru to return her affection? To have realized his mistake from so long ago?

"Mai?"

"Yes?" Mai replied. As she looked up her breath caught in her throat as she realized how close Naru had gotten.

"Will you come back to SPR? It wouldn't be the same without you and it would be a pain to train a new assistant to make my tea the way I like it."

Mai rolled her eyes. "You haven't changed. But I'm not sure if I can come back. I'm in college now and I- I don't know if I could work for you again and maintain my sanity." Mai was working now to keep from showing Noll just how much he'd hurt her.

"I can work around your schedule, Mai. Tell me what is bothering you and we can work around it." Naru was not one for begging but he was considering doing so if it meant Mai staying in his life. He had spent too much time in England missing her to let her get away or to leave again. It was incredibly selfish but he **needed** her.

Mai let out a dark chuckle. "The problem is **you**, Noll. I can't stop loving you even if you don't believe I do to begin with. I can't just stand there and act like everything is okay when I'm still heartbroken. I just can't. SPR will just have to go on without me and so will you." She turned away so that Naru couldn't see the tears starting to form. All that time of trying to strengthen herself was undone in one meeting. It was funny what love could do to a person.

At Mai's last sentence, Naru finally understood. He had been so stupid but he knew how to fix things now. He turned Mai back around until she was facing him.

Mai recognized the sudden change in Naru's behavior. She was sure he could hear her heart racing. "N-naru? What are you doing?"

Naru leaned in and replied, "Something I should have done a long time ago." He then kissed her with all of the passion and feeling he could muster. When they pulled away, he smirked at the look on Mai's face. He brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Do you understand now?"

Mai nodded and rested her forehead against Naru's for a moment. "And you believe me now when I say I love you?"

Naru showed her one of his rare smiles. "Yes."

The two stayed like that for a couple of minutes before Naru smirked again and said, "Shouldn't you be getting to class?"

Mai grinned. "It won't kill me to skip just this once. Besides, some things are more important."


End file.
